That’s right. I am totally nerding it up this Friday. I am sure this is going to be absolutely hilarious. Are C3P0 and Spock really going to make out? I’m going to the Friday show, but there are shows Thursday through Saturday. Dates and times of the shows can be found here. Just FYI, if you buy online it’s $15 plus service charge, which comes to about $18 so you’re better off just buying tickets at the door unless you’re afraid this is going to sell out. Which is very possible given its feature as Time Out New York’s Critic’s Pick.

The geeks of EW! will clash against one another in civil war to settle one of the most impassioned nerd arguments of our time: Which science fiction franchise is superior, Star Trek or Star Wars? Leading the arguments for Team Trek will be vaudevillian Nelson Lugo, with “evidence” provided by Trekkie hotties Bonnie Voy’age, Lefty Lucy, Miss Mary Cyn and special guest Fem Appeal. Arguing on behalf of Star Wars will be nerd rapper Schaffer the Darklord and his team of sultry Siths BB Heart, Victoria Privates, Magdalena Fox and special guest Rosey La Rouge. Since our hosts will be playing the parts of opposing counsel, our audience will play the part of jury. Indeed, the “winner” will be determined by your vote.

EPIC WIN Burlesque presents “The Star Debate: Trek vs. Wars.” This sexy symposium will settle the great nerd argument once and for all. Phasers will clash with lightsabers. Klingons will battle Stormtroopers. Tribbles will wrestle Ewoks. And although there can be only one victor, all of the nerds in attendance will unite and rejoice in the majestic spectacle of space boobs. The battle has begun.

Two costumed nerds passionately argue the superiority of their favorite science fiction franchises, with sexy “evidence” provided by superstars of the NYC burlesque scene.

EPIC WIN Burlesque has been accepted into the 2011 NYC Fringe Festival. The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues.

My friend Mike has become increasingly dismayed by higher education’s not-so-subtle shift in focus away from learning and towards profit maximization. He is alarmed by the fast-growing, already-massive amount of student loan debt in this country, and he wants us to step back and rethink why it is that we go to school, why it is that we pursue higher education – to get back to the core of it all: learning. His blog entry entitled College, Inc. explored some of the facts and figures surrounding the student loan crisis and floated some of his ideas for educational reform.

He’s decided, now, to actually do something about it all. Mike’s co-founded an educational startup called Skillshare, which is launching next month. Their mission is to flip the traditional notion of education on its head and revolutionize learning.

He’s teamed up with the folks over at The Cultivated Word to help spread the word about the looming student loan crisis and why we need to pay attention. They want to create an animated video to shed light on the issues at hand and to get people excited about learning again, not just about going to college or getting a degree.

Monday: From 10:00 am – 11:59 pm ET, select from the available performance(s) listed for the following weekend.

Tuesday: Drawing is held. Winners’ names, as well as those on the wait list, will be posted here at noon. At that time, winners may begin purchasing the tickets online, by calling 212-362-6000, or by visiting the Met Opera Box Office. Winners will also be contacted via email.

Wednesday: Tickets must be purchased by 5:00 pm ET or the tickets will be forfeited and released to those on the wait list. Wait list tickets may be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis by calling 212-362-6000, online, or by visiting the Met Opera Box Office.

Thursday: Wait list tickets must be purchased by 5:00 pm ET or the tickets will be forfeited and released for sale at the regular price.

If you select more than one performance, you are eligible to win all from a single entry form. Do not enter more than once per week. Winners are eligible to purchase up to two tickets per performance. Specific seat locations are random and non-negotiable.

Note: These discounted tickets were made available by a generous gift from Met Board member Agnes Varis and her husband Karl Leichtman, and they’re also making weekday tickets available. 150 orchestra seats are available to the general public for each regular Monday through Thursday performance for only $20 (excluding galas, special events, and opening nights of new productions). You can purchase Varis Rush Tickets at the Met box office beginning two hours before curtain, subject to availability. I’ll be queued up outside the box office on November 6th so I can see the only Varis Rush ticket performance of Carmen, my all-time favorite opera.

Hobby is a gathering organized by the good folks over at Harvest where four folks are invited to talk each month about what they do when they’re not actually working. Each speaker talks about his or her hobby for 5 minutes before a 5 minute Q&A session. My friend Mike, who spoke about poker and decision-making, suggested that Harvest get in touch with me to see if I might like to talk about this here blog. Crazy though it may be, they actually decided to give it a shot and they’re giving me a microphone (gasp!) and a remote control (double gasp!!) so I can talk about cooking and eating and shopping and other stuff I like, all with the aid of a not-so-fancy Powerpoint presentation I dreamt up today.

This Tuesday, October 19 at 7 pm in Chinatown/SoHo, you can come and see people talk about jazz, paragliding, and living in New York City on the cheap. The bios for this month’s speakers:

Leo Ferguson is a native New Yorker, a recent driving school graduate and really likes french fries. He had an afro before it was cool and wants you all to know it, and no, he’s not Malcolm Gladwell. By day he does fancy-pants digital imaging and print stuff for big horrible companies and by night he is a musician, a composer and a lover. His music has been called “adequate” by important people who know about that kind of thing, and he’ll be discussing jazz.

James Bradley started paragliding in 2003. He progressed rapidly to have an advanced rating, a commercial tandem certification, and can tell you what “cloud suck” is, and where you can get it. When not flying, James can usually be found trying to cram two hundred pounds of gliders and gear into the closets of a Manhattan apartment.

Melody Han (that’s me!) thinks that people care about what she eats, and amazingly enough, some people actually do. Since moving to NYC in 2007, Melody has been eating her way through the city and other parts of the world (as cheaply as possible), trying her hand at cooking in her tiny LES kitchen, and dreaming of the day when she might have enough counterspace to own a standing mixer. Her eat.shop.love.NYC. posts have been featured in NBC New York’s Around Town | Food & Drink blog and The Gothamist. She always has a camera, if only to perpetuate stereotypes.

Abel Horwitz has come to New York City pursuing a childhood dream. So far he has cut an album with Jay-Z, dated Natalie Portman, and is delighted to find out how affordable New York City is (not one of these things is true). He will do his very best to explain that you (yes, you!) can travel the world for cheap. Abel likes exploring the city, meeting new people, eating great meals and spending time with his best friend, Jay-Z.

RSVP on the Harvest Hobby website! Tickets are free, and there are 7 left at the moment. If they run out, you should still be able to come. There will be wine (I think), a boozy Halloween punch I’m concocting, cookies in creepy shapes, and cool people to meet. You might have an awesome time.

I’ve been absent because I’ve been busy. With the end of summer comes weekend trips, weddings, Fashion Week, and MIPCOM. I am also thrilled to announce that Videofashion Daily has made its debut on Hulu – and, trust me, that deal was not an easy close. Negotiating, orchestrating, and navigating through the rough waters of change is one of the small victories in my career thus far. As such, my hands have been full.

But if you want to see what the hard-working ladies of the Videofashion editorial team have been working on (and I will soon be selling), check our Fashion Week videos out online!

Brooklyn Bridge Park runs a fabulous summer outdoor movie series called Movies with a View on Thursday nights in the summer, weather permitting. You get to watch movies under the Brooklyn Bridge against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline… it’s one of those summertime things that makes me feel incredibly lucky to live in the city. I haven’t gotten around to going this summer yet, but there’s a DJ from 6 pm onwards, and the movies go on at sunset, usually around 8:30 or 9 pm. Tonight, I’m going to watch Blues Brothers armed with bread, cheese, grapes, olives, beef jerky, and other delicious snacks. Get there early to stake your claim on some lawn space and picnic until the sun goes down.

Sorry for the lack of regular posting. I usually get lazy in the summertime because I’m out eating things, but this summer, it’s especially bad because I’m out eating things AND the World Cup is on. My friend Deedles hypothesizes that World Cup is to American soccer fans like Christmas/Easter are to Catholics. Ha. I like soccer, but it’s the World Cup that really gets my blood pumping. Something about the patriotism, the throwback to my motherland, the fact that people all over the world, truly, have a chance to play the real football and emerge victorious… it warms the cockles of my heart.

I am cheering on South Korea and the United States, though I don’t expect either to end up in the finals. South Korea just barely scraped by to advance into the next round today with a 2-2 draw against Nigeria.

Group B

MP

W

D

L

GF

GA

+/-

Pts

Argentina

3

3

0

0

7

1

+6

9

South Korea

3

1

1

1

5

6

-1

4

Greece

3

1

0

2

2

5

-3

3

Nigeria

3

0

1

2

3

5

-2

1

I was a little heartbroken to see North Korea take such a beating from Portugal… it was a rough week for the Korean peninsula all around. Still, in their first World Cup appearance since 1969, they did a hold their own against Brazil, and that’s saying something.

I’m a lot more active on Twitter these days… something about the summer makes me want to overshare. If you can get past my World Cup tweets, I do occasionally link to something fun/interesting/food-related. See you later, tweeples!